Smoke in the cabin

Next AUA mishap: aircraft forced to make an emergency landing

AUA recently suffered a number of breakdowns.

(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

Just one day before the dramatic hail damage that hit an AUA aircraft on approach to Vienna, there was another incident on board an Austrian Airlines aircraft. Smoke in the cabin forced an Airbus to return immediately after take-off. 

The incident occurred on June 8, on flight OS561 from Vienna Schwechat to Zurich. The Airbus A320 - the very same model that was involved in the hailstorm flight - had taken off at 7 a.m., but already during the climb there was so much smoke in the cabin that the pilots had to turn back. 

Smell like "old socks"
Passengers described the smell on board as similar to "old socks", reports aviation journalist and author Patrick Huber in the online portal "Austrian Wings". It is possible that the cabin air was contaminated with residues of engine oil - a highly toxic matter. 

Only 17 minutes after take-off, the AUA aircraft therefore had to land again in Vienna-Schwechat. Nobody was injured, the aircraft was taken out of service and technically inspected.

AUA: "No emergency landing"
Austrian Airlines said on Wednesday that the incident was "not an emergency landing": "After the aircraft took off, the aforementioned odor/vapor development occurred in the cockpit, which is why a mayday call was made by the pilots."

The aircraft was then intensively inspected by Austrian Technik and appropriate tests and engine runs were carried out: "As no faults were found on the aircraft and all air measurement results were inconspicuous, the aircraft has been back in flight operations since Monday, June 10."